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Letter-Perfect: Miracle on 34th Street

The Postal Service's Operation Santa Claus at its main New York office may double to a record of one million requests and wishes. And one staffer says the temp helpers think unemployment is more like 30% than 8%.

Lest anyone think charity has gone the way of the rotary phone, there is the U.S. Postal Service's Operation Santa Claus to prove them wrong. And those who think the economy is really in excellent shape should take a look at some of the thousands of letters that have poured in to New York's main post office on 34th Street.

Peter Fontana, the head elf, otherwise known as the head of customer-service relations at the New York facility, notes that, "The people I hired as temporary helpers think unemployment is more like 30%" than 8%. The program is 99 years old, and will try to facilitate wish-fulfillment through Thursday or Friday.

Basic Need: The main post office in New York expects to get one million letters addressed to Santa, double the number last year.
William Waitzman for Barron's

Indeed, the need this year is so great that letters to Santa started arriving in New York back in July, some three months earlier than usual, says Darlene Reid, a spokeswoman. Too, the volume of letters to New York alone (which receives the most Santa mail of any facility by far) could easily double this year, to a record one million, she says. Nationwide, the number of missives received is "in the millions," Reid adds.

Last year, about 40,000 of the half-million New York letters were answered by Good Samaritans, who sift through requests stripped of identifying information and decide which ones to match with donated items. One longtime Secret Santa says that she's seen more requests for basics such as underwear.

And wealthy volunteers aren't above contributing. Regarding a request for a piano, Fontana says, two well-heeled responders were overheard to be wondering whether to make it a Baldwin or a Steinway.

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